The Washington Post: The scene is both iconic and misleading. The hats at Royal Ascot were rarely black and white. But when famed costume designer Cecil Beaton depicted aristocrats in achromatic ensembles for the film adaptation of “My Fair Lady,” he introduced American audiences to Britain’s most prestigious racing event, one where opulent, outrageous hats are more important than the horses.
9 comments:
This was such an interesting article! I knew that Milliners existed, & I knew that sometimes we make hats for the stage, Ive even made a few, but I didn't realize how big of a thing it was. I didnt realize that could be pretty much your sole job as a theatre person.
Its true that elaborate hats are no longer in style today, even though it could be fun if they were, but they're right that hats play such a big part in historical theatre. You dont really realize it at the time, but hats really do make all the difference in terms of going that extra mile to insure the fantasy of the play is as realistic as possible. I cant imagine what shows like Hello, Dolly! or Okalahoma! would be like without hats.
I like April, didn't know that a person could make such a career from making making hats. I didn't realize just how often so many theaters need hats. It's awesome to see such a delicate hand craft still in use and being recognized. Hats have long been in use on the stage and and I think we often forget the impact they have and the information they give about the people wearing them. They really are an important accessory and it's great to see a theatre undertaking such a project. It's even better to see a person who still possesses the skills needed for the project.
I think this article is extremely interesting. It shows that there is a place for something so specific in a particular focus. I think one of the best things about this article is how there is an entire library for hats. It allows designers, Nash as well as others to do research to construct hats. Additionally I feel hats pose a particularly difficult challenge in the world of costuming as well as for the actor. The actors have to be lit as well as act around the stage. If the hat is used in a musical like some mentioned in the article there is a fair amount of dancing as well. How does a designer keep the hat attached while masking the places to keep the hat attached?
Milliners, and the entire artisanal community, has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. Hand-crafted, unique, and high quality products are few and far between nowadays. It is really quite something to admire when a person devotes their entire energy and focus into perfect one craft and achieve the point where all that they produce is flawless and exquisite.
I was completely unaware that hat making was such a prominent industry (or a prominent subset of our industry). I knew that hats are made for shows from Kenny's class, but I did not know that it was this popular. I've always seen hats purchased for shows, but I at least don't think about designing them! It isn't a very common thing to think about hats in costume design; often times the come on stage on an actor, are put down, and picked up at the end. But a hat can tell a lot about a character, from their social status to their wealth. They also can add to a character; they can make a character look bigger or more menacing or poor or whatever. Very cool.
This is amazing I thought that making one that requires a lot of work I could never imagine the amount of man hours that goes into making more than 85 has for one show. In America we do not have the same connection to hats now a days as people in say England do and therefore it is hard for us to comprehend how important hats are to their history and their tradition. I would be interested to learn more about how hats are still used in England. Hats really are such an important part of history that we often don’t think about.
I think it's great to see one's passion shine within a production. I also feel that having all of these original hats with colors that stick to the period and scene will really give a great and interesting outlook on the show itself. It's great to see how these hats have characters just by the description in this article and how that can easily change a character onstage and help ensemble members create characters. It's great to see just what a beautifully crafted hat can do.
It's the best feeling in the world to see a performance and be able to lean over to a friend, point at something onstage, and say "I made that." Now this woman gets the chance to have that same feeling, only amplified a dozen times! I know that the costume designers have an entire class dedicated to millenry and there's a lot more detail that goes into making hats than one could even fathom, so I think for this woman to make all these extravagant hats, completely different from one another and each with their own personality and bright color, is really remarkable.
I am in awe of how talented this woman is. I also applaud her for devoting all of herself to one thing she truly loves and has such passion for. I sometimes find myself, especially right now with class registration and declaring right around the corner, having trouble devoting all of my effort to one sole thing. Her work is amazing and I am glad that she has been able to find one thing that she loves enough to be happy to work on it and nothing else.
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